First time synth buyer and specific Micro X question

LaceSensor · Post by **LaceSensor** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:44 pm

Hi there,

I am a first time synth buyer.

I have demo'd the Micro X and the R3 in a guitar shop, and like them both. Obviously I was a bit blown away, and only managed to poke and roll my way through the presets. Now I'm back home and have researched a lot, I am down to these choices:

Korg R3
korg Micro X
Alexis Micron
Novation X25 or Xiosynth station

my specific question about the Micro X is wrt the arpeggiator, can it be used to "latch". I have seen this on video demos of the R3, but havent found it on the micro X, and its a tool I would want to use.

Also, for someone for whom a vocoder is a nice novelty but not a requirement, which of the models above would be the best synthesiser for the beginner, looking to expand band sounds, play along to 80s stuff in my house, and generally learn a bit of keyboard / synth?

Thanks and please be kind I'm a noob, you dont need to tell me that.

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 3:05 am

OK, I replaced my Micron with a microX and the Micron had replaced a Novation K-Station, so I have a pretty good idea of most of your options. The microX will have the widest palette of sounds by a long way, because o fits sample ROM based architecture. Its arpeggiators are also a step-up from the Micron and they can indeed be latched. The advantage of a XioSynth is that it can also be used as a USB audio I/O device, which is handy if you are also using a computer but completely useless to you otherwise. [I don't even know if it can be used without the computer attached.]

I bought my first synth in 1981 and since then I have owned a lot of them. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the microX is the best synth I have ever owned. I aboslutely love it to death - it has all the great things about a Triton in a small, easy to work with package. My K-Station and Micron were both great synths but had nowhere near the flexibility and power of the microX. There are a few things that one or the other of them did well but overall, nothing else stacks up IMHO.

LaceSensor · Post by **LaceSensor** » Tue Aug 19, 2008 7:19 am

Hi thanks for the reply.

One question can the arpeggiator be latched on and off in real time using the Micro X, like the Korg R3?

BONES · Post by **BONES** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:49 am

Not sure, I don't really use it at all, even though it was one of the reasons I was interested in it.